Burning

Red woke up from his bed and started cleaning himself with magic. He washed his face from some random dust that flew by his room at night, and started to get changed.

After getting changed and exiting his room, he was greeted by the familiar sight of their living room, and the kitchen next to it. He also took into account the mahogany-like doors and the creaking floor beneath him, like it is about to break at any moment.

It may not be much to others, but Red found every reason to fall inlove with this minimalistic house and his lovely family. He smiled and entered the kitchen, where a lit-up furnace greeted his sight, and the scent of freshly cooked chicken wafting through the air filled his lungs.

A random thought passed through his mind but he chose to shrug it away. He stared at his mother fanning the furnace with a piece of fan-like object. It had the base of wood and had leather instead of wool or cotton as it's 'fans'.

She was fanning the chicken meat that was undergoing a process similar to grilling back in his life. He smiled and grabbed the wooden plates and utensils and prepared it at their small table, which was adorned with small carvings like birds and flowers.

"Red? Oh, you are awake! Let me finish this for a minute and let's eat!" Lilith said and smiled sweetly at him, which caused his heart to flutter at the ever-familliar warmth of a parent figure's love.

He couldn't help but bluntly say "Do you have any grapes?"

Lilith looked at her son weirdly and proceeds to grill the chicken and eventually detached the chicken from the furnace, placing it nicely on a wooden plate that was ever-slightly larger than the plate they use to eat from.

He smiled. The past few years felt like it has gone by in a flash, like it was rushed out of impulse. He shrugged and started digging into the newly placed chicken in front of him.

"Do we have any Fre Sha Vaca Do?" A small voice whispered at the back of his mind which caused him to subtly gag at his food. He grabbed a wooden cup and drank water to flush the feeling away, although he was shitting bricks in his head.

"Are you okay Red?" His Mom ask in concern. Red shook his head as he suddenly found a reasonable excuse and a round-about question to help relieve some of his problems.

"I just found this food too delicious and choked accidentally, sorry Mom. Speaking of food, can you teach me how to cook?" Red asked shyly. Although he has several past lives, they either lived in take-aways or instant food, and one can barely cook satisfying meals.

Lilith's eyes glistened as she found a chance to interact with her uniquely weird child. She nodded and patted his head. Red smiled widely and continued eating through his food.

After finishing the meal that lasts for 3 paragraphs, Red assisted his Mother in cleaning the dishes with a little application of his Water magic. By the end of the interaction, his mom told him to grab some utensils as they will start their 'lesson' with cutting.

"Remember Red, cutting in itself is a form of profession, and you must never use magic to quicken the process. Although some hearsays from Culinary Mages say that you can imbue magic in the ingredients, you must always adhere to the simple law of knives. You never know, a knife might become a handy friend in the future." Lilith narrated for a while. She slowly cutted some Onion-looking fruits and showed Red her own art of cutting.

"Although this is not much, Cutting is still a form of honest work that helps give a meal it's completeness. There are some ingredients in meals that do not needed to be cut, but I still want to teach this small thing to you." Lilith continued as she handed a wooden board and a worn knife.

He accepted the tools and tried repeating Lilith's actions earlier. He slowly cutted the fruit slice by slice, while listening to Lilith point out his mistakes. He appreciated the action so he put all his focus on completing this one thing.

After he finished cutting the fruit, they ended up cutting different vegetables and fruits. Lilith then grabbed the oil lamp by the doorway and gave the furnace a little bit of fire to begin their cooking.

"Now we have to wait for the fire to eat at the logs real quick. And while we are at it, fill the pots with a bit of water, we're making salad for a light snack" Lilith said as Red grabbed the nearest pot and added water into it.

When the fire started cackling, signalling that it has started burning the logs, Lilith placed the pot atop the furnace and waited for the water to boil. She leaned forward and placed her hand above the water without touching it. When she felt the heat was enough, she nodded as she backed away and motioned for Red to take over the furnace.

"Now I will instruct you what ingredient you will place and how long each ingredient must be cooked or stirred in the pot before adding another ingredient, and repeat, do you understand?" She said patiently, as Red nodded with conviction.

And now, as a fire cackles loudly in the kitchen, though there were some shouts and scolding audible, there was also a fire starting to burn within the "young" boy's heart. He swore that with his mother's lessons, he will eventually rise up to the path of a proud Emperor and fulfill her cravings.

By the end of the session, a gloomy looking salad was prepared in a bowl, which Red had to painstakingly eat. While crying and and munching like a lost dog on his failure of a meal, Red snapped awake as a System Notification opened up before him.

'Congratulations for User for creating [Salad (F)]'

'User has gained 1 Episode of 'Food Wars''

Red stared at the notification and decided to go outside to watch his newly found privilege. He waved goodbye and headed for the main roads. When he reached the Central Plaza, he headed South, where an influx of adventurers, mages, and merchants are gathered.

He dashed past them and reached the front gates of the City. With a wave of his hands towards the guards he has grown familiar with, he entered the forest with nothing but anticipation, as he looked for a clearing and settled on top of a fallen log.

'Open Food Wars'

As Red thought of the words, a translucent screen appeared in front of him.

'Use 1 Episode of Food Wars?'

[Yes] [No]

He pressed Yes and he felt his consciousness slowly slip. His body fell over the log as he entered a 'sleep' like state.

Red found himself in a weird space, though he feels like he's still alive, he can't control his body nor his words. He was currently 'sighing' as he has failed a weird amalgamation of a meal.

Next moment, he was in a mini competition of Weirdest Tasting Meal, and his was a Peanut Butter Squid, which was disgusting in all honesty. He sighed mentally as he knew the current scene. It was the first episode of Food Wars, and he will have to watch the whole thing for another 29 minutes, give or take.

After the whole escapade which the author didn't mention since he only barely remembers the first episode, Red awoke after 30 minutes in the time of the world he was in.

'Congratulations to User for unlocking his first episode. Achievement 'Starting Weeb' unlocked'

[Starting Weeb]

Rank: F

Uses: Gives the user 100% chance to learn one skill from a random anime. Has 1 out of 10 chance to activate.

'Congratulations to User for unlocking a Cooking-type Anime. User has gained 'Chef's Will' Ability'

[Chef's Will]

Rank: A

Uses: With more Cooking type anime/story/manga unlocked, the more skills, techniques, and abilities from Anime/Novel/Manga gained.

Red stared at the notifications with a small smirk as he raised his fists towards the sky and almost shouted before another notification interrupted him.

'System has found excessive magical build-up within User after his first Anime Immersion. Sealing Magical Abilities to prevent User being negligent towards his predestined goals'

Red stared wide eyed at the notification as tears built up in his eyes

"WHY IS THIS SUDDENLY SO HARD?!?!"